A former Special Adviser on Political Matters to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the Office of the Vice President, Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, has urged the President to abandon any plans to run for a second term in 2027, insisting that Nigeria now requires a more energetic, responsive, and focused leader.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics on Sunday night, Baba-Ahmed delivered one of the strongest public critiques yet from a former insider, noting that President Tinubu has not shown the urgency needed to rescue a country grappling with deepening economic hardship and social instability.
“I’m sorry, but I have to say this again. When I left his administration, one of the things I told many people was, ‘I wish President Tinubu would not run again in 2027,’” he said.
According to him, President Tinubu has already fulfilled his political dream and has not demonstrated the dynamism that once defined his political persona.
“First, he said his ambition was to be president, and he has now achieved that. He said ‘Emil’okan,’ and he had his turn. But I don’t think he has run the country well,” Baba-Ahmed stated.
He accused the administration of governing by financial rhetoric instead of responding to the lived realities of Nigerians.
“He is running an economy, not a country. He is running figures, everyday you hear we are saving more money, we are doing this.”
Baba-Ahmed argued that the President should instead help the APC find “a younger, healthier, and more focused” individual to position as the party’s presidential candidate in 2027.
“Let him look within his party, a younger person, a healthier person, a more focused person, and make him his candidate. He can. If he can rerun this government, get all these people out of the PDP to come and join him, he’s amongst every power that he needs, but he’s not running the country.”
He further questioned President Tinubu’s handling of key national moments in recent months, arguing that his response has lacked urgency and clarity.
“Well, look, the last two months, or at least let’s go back to since this Trump thing, I didn’t see a president who should respond to an emergency or a challenge in this manner, with this manner and the spirit that he should. I didn’t see it. And it’s not just on this issue,” he said.
Baba-Ahmed concluded that Nigeria is in far too fragile a state to continue with business-as-usual leadership.
“The truth is that Nigeria has deteriorated so badly that we cannot continue to run things as if they’re normal,” he warned.
Alhaji Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, the unappointed special adviser on those running for election, thank you for your advice, but according to former president OBJ, to his advisers in swearing-in, told them, “and your advice might not be needed”, same I told you.